Rangers have 1 prospect in Keith Law’s top 100 Prospect list
January 26, 2026
Rangers have 1 prospect in Keith Law’s top 100 Prospect list
9 comments
Walcott is #16, down from #2 last year.
The Rangers continued to push Walcott very aggressively, starting him in Double A in 2025 even though he only turned 19 in March, making him the youngest player to start anywhere above A-ball. He hit a respectable .256/.355/.386, showing outstanding contact skills and plate discipline for his age but not turning that into much high-quality or even medium-quality contact, getting too many fastballs in the upper half of the zone and popping them up or getting on top of them and hitting them into the ground. He’s already reached 115 mph exit velocity, indicative of his enormous raw power, and perhaps we would have seen more of that last year had he been at a level more typical for his age. It’s to his credit that he only struck out 19.6 percent of the time, with just a 28 percent whiff rate and 25 percent chase rate, but he also clearly sacrificed a lot of power to avoid striking out. He didn’t have an extra-base hit all year on a pitch above 93 mph, which is mind-boggling because he has plenty of bat speed. He’s still primarily playing shortstop, even though he’s at least going to move to third base and could follow the Kris Bryant path to the outfield, given his present size and his enormous frame. I’m still a big believer, because he does know the strike zone and the power isn’t going anywhere, but he might need to repeat a level here to catch his breath, so he can convert his aptitude into more production.
Gavin Fien would have given us two, he slots in somewhere around 70-ish.
Farm System ain’t in a great spot, we’ve been exclusively buying at every trade deadline for the last few years. Price you pay when you have an aggressive FO that wants to contend, which is something I think a lot of teams would kill for right about now. Gotta capitalize on the deGrom/Eovaldi/Seager window, so I don’t hate it. Just fits the phase we’re in as a franchise.
One thing I notice is that none of the names we’ve traded away (outside of Fien) show up on this list, either. So it’s not like we’re sending away grade A guys.
One of the worst offenses in the league with absolutely no light at the end of the tunnel.
I like the other list better
Scarborough should be on this list, BA has him in top 100.
Either way we need some farm success this year. Gotta replenish our trade assets.
edit: the farm is probably as worse as it has been since about 2017, after the Lucroy and Beltran trades and Mazara and Gallo’s graduation. Hopefully the major league team can take a step forward instead of doing what they did in 2017
I think it was Jamey Newberg who said once that the Farm System is there to help the big league club compete. So, I don’t mind having a depleted farm system if it means we’ve made trades and folks have graduated from AAA to MLB, so we are a little thin. Hopefully we will compete this year. Being a Rangers fan for 40 years, and I have had plenty of highly-rated minor league players who don’t pan out in the big leagues… That being said, I’d like to have a highly-rated farm system AND a competitive big league team.
No Elorky? Is it too early for him?
Still sad we let acuna go but the Scherzer Trade helped win it all so I guess it evens out?
Walcott is at least 2 years away. Massive hole in his swing. Which is fine if he puts in the work. Hes so young. I dont want to rush him like Profy. He found his way eventually and has carved out a nice role for himself but it took him a minute. Profar had too much upside to not put it together eventually.
If we are in it at the deadline, which I think we can be, Id be down moving Walcott for the right guy. I would love to take one more shot while we still have Seager, Evo, JdG, Gore, etc.
9 comments
Walcott is #16, down from #2 last year.
The Rangers continued to push Walcott very aggressively, starting him in Double A in 2025 even though he only turned 19 in March, making him the youngest player to start anywhere above A-ball. He hit a respectable .256/.355/.386, showing outstanding contact skills and plate discipline for his age but not turning that into much high-quality or even medium-quality contact, getting too many fastballs in the upper half of the zone and popping them up or getting on top of them and hitting them into the ground. He’s already reached 115 mph exit velocity, indicative of his enormous raw power, and perhaps we would have seen more of that last year had he been at a level more typical for his age. It’s to his credit that he only struck out 19.6 percent of the time, with just a 28 percent whiff rate and 25 percent chase rate, but he also clearly sacrificed a lot of power to avoid striking out. He didn’t have an extra-base hit all year on a pitch above 93 mph, which is mind-boggling because he has plenty of bat speed. He’s still primarily playing shortstop, even though he’s at least going to move to third base and could follow the Kris Bryant path to the outfield, given his present size and his enormous frame. I’m still a big believer, because he does know the strike zone and the power isn’t going anywhere, but he might need to repeat a level here to catch his breath, so he can convert his aptitude into more production.
Gavin Fien would have given us two, he slots in somewhere around 70-ish.
Farm System ain’t in a great spot, we’ve been exclusively buying at every trade deadline for the last few years. Price you pay when you have an aggressive FO that wants to contend, which is something I think a lot of teams would kill for right about now. Gotta capitalize on the deGrom/Eovaldi/Seager window, so I don’t hate it. Just fits the phase we’re in as a franchise.
One thing I notice is that none of the names we’ve traded away (outside of Fien) show up on this list, either. So it’s not like we’re sending away grade A guys.
One of the worst offenses in the league with absolutely no light at the end of the tunnel.
I like the other list better
Scarborough should be on this list, BA has him in top 100.
Either way we need some farm success this year. Gotta replenish our trade assets.
edit: the farm is probably as worse as it has been since about 2017, after the Lucroy and Beltran trades and Mazara and Gallo’s graduation. Hopefully the major league team can take a step forward instead of doing what they did in 2017
I think it was Jamey Newberg who said once that the Farm System is there to help the big league club compete. So, I don’t mind having a depleted farm system if it means we’ve made trades and folks have graduated from AAA to MLB, so we are a little thin. Hopefully we will compete this year. Being a Rangers fan for 40 years, and I have had plenty of highly-rated minor league players who don’t pan out in the big leagues… That being said, I’d like to have a highly-rated farm system AND a competitive big league team.
No Elorky? Is it too early for him?
Still sad we let acuna go but the Scherzer Trade helped win it all so I guess it evens out?
Walcott is at least 2 years away. Massive hole in his swing. Which is fine if he puts in the work. Hes so young. I dont want to rush him like Profy. He found his way eventually and has carved out a nice role for himself but it took him a minute. Profar had too much upside to not put it together eventually.
If we are in it at the deadline, which I think we can be, Id be down moving Walcott for the right guy. I would love to take one more shot while we still have Seager, Evo, JdG, Gore, etc.